«Дар освобождения», курс 27 «Четыре цветка», занятие 7

[Speaker 1]
We're in the middle of discussing natural wrong deeds and declared wrong deeds. Declared means Buddha announced it was a bad deed, and before that it wasn't a bad deed. So now he's going to...

you can look for... you can look for D-U-D space apostrophe G-R-O. D-U-D space apostrophe G-R-O.

Yeah, good. Okay. So now he's going to talk about the difference.

So let's say a monk kills an animal or eats meat, right? SOGS SPYOD GYI RANG BZHIN GYI GANG NAM MA THO BA'I SDIG PA ZHIG DANG They have done a natural bad deed by killing an animal. DUN DO SRED PA'I DUNG BYED KYI BYED PA'I GANG NAM MA THO BA They have done an announced bad deed because they broke a monk's vow which says you cannot kill animals.

So it's possible with one action to do a natural bad deed and an announced bad deed. Because monks and nuns took a rule... they accepted to keep a rule of Lord Buddha that they wouldn't kill animals.

So if a monk or nun kills an animal, they do both a natural bad deed and an announced bad deed. Declared bad deed. THUNG BAR ZHIG SDUG BSRUNG YIN SBYONG LDAN DE'I SDIG PA DANG, THUNG BAR NYID NGO BO'O'I GCIG LA BDOG PA LTA STE LU YOD PAS Say, this is for you Adam.

NGO BO'I GCIG, BDOG PA LTA STE Say NGO BO'I GCIG. BDOG PA LTA STE NGO BO'I GCIG BDOG PA LTA STE Same thing in a different package. And the famous...

I learned all my Tibetan... I didn't have a dictionary, I had Lama. We lived together for 25 years.

And I remember where I learned many of those expressions. We went to the dentist in Freehold, New Jersey. And we stopped at a convenience store before that because he was hungry.

And he looked through the whole convenience store, Circle K, 7-Eleven, something like that. And he said, this is all the same crap in different packages. Sugar, flour, you know.

And he said, ZE'I GCIG BDOG PA LTA STE which is a famous logic expression. So I learned everything in the convenience store from him. So ZE'I GCIG means same stuff.

BDOG PA LTA STE means in different package. You want to go deeper? BDOG PA is a logic term and this is from an idea in the logic schools that the way you see something like a clock is that your mind thinks of everything which is not the clock and then it cancels that.

So what's the reverse of everything which is not the clock? It's the clock. That's called BDOG PA.

So Adam's translating this book. I don't think you got to that part yet. Or did we?

I don't remember. Anyway, everything which is not the thing is the thing. In some Buddhist schools, this is how you see something.

And it's a useful idea. So same stuff, different package. Different package means different BDOG PA.

They are the same substance but they are different identities depending on how you cancel what they are not. Are you confused? Okay, good.

Let's go on. Anyway, Adam has to put it in our dictionary. In logic, it's called ZAD CIG BDOG PA THA DAD.

Here it's called NGO BO GCIG LA BDOG PA THA DAD. LDAN DE LTUNG BA DE NYON PO RTOGS SHES JI LTAR BYED KYANG, DE NYID LTUNG BA LTUNG NGO BO CIG PA'I SDIG PA LHAG MA MED PAR DAG NUS KYANG DE NYID LTUNG BA LTUNG NGO BO CIG PA'I SDIG PA LHAG MA MED PAR If you do the four... So let's say the monk or nun has killed an animal, right?

So really they broke two vows. One is the natural vow that all people have not to kill. And then secondly, they broke a Buddha's word.

So of those two karmas, the killing has to be cleaned with the four powers. They have to use the four powers. You guys know about it.

DE DANG NGO BO CIG PA'I LTUNG BA NI, CHOS CHUG GI BDAG PAR MA BYAS PAR THUS MIN DAG But that monk or nun will still have to do SO SBYONG to purify breaking the rule. You see what I mean? I'm thinking about it.

She wants to do SO SBYONG today. We'll figure it out. The monks and nuns have to get together twice a month and tell each other what they did wrong.

So even if you use the four powers, you can get rid of the bad deed. But to get rid of breaking Buddha's word, you have to do a separate ceremony in the monks and nuns ceremony. All right.

CHOS CHUG means repair. CHOS CHUG PA SO SBYONG, same. YANG LTUNG BA CHOS CHUG GI, BDAG PAR BYAS KYANG, SDIG PA DE NYIN PO TOGS SHING MA BZHAG RNAMS MIN DAG Then somebody asks a question.

What if they go to SO SBYONG and they purify breaking the word of the Buddha, but they don't do the four powers? Yeah, they still have the bad karma. So they have to do it both ways because they have a vow against it.

Okay. SO THAR GYI SDOM PA NI, KHYEN RLONG RGYEN RDZIN DANG, BYAS PA LAS BLANGS TE, RGYEN RDZIN DANG, RGYEN RLONG RGYI BSTAN DU, CHOS CHUG GI BYA'I SGO BZHIN The reason is when you took a monk's or nun's vow, you took it from the other monks and nuns. So when you break it, you have to do it with them.

You have to clean it with them. BYANG RDONG DANG RGYAL BA'I NYES PA DE, LAM MA RGYAL BA'I SRAS GCIG GI DRUNG DANG If you break a bodhisattva vow, then it means you have to confess it if you can in front of the person who gave it to you. Or you can imagine all the Buddhists and bodhisattvas.

Different people to confess to. LHAG SDOM DANG RGYAL BA'I NYES PA DE, KHYING MGOGS PA'I LHA TZOGS KYI CHEN NGAG SHAGS PA DAG PA BYANG RGYA If you break your tantric vows, Vajrayana vows, then you have to visualize the deities and angels that you took the vow from like Vajrayogini, and then you have to invite her to your room and you have to tell her what you did. All right.

RANG RES CHEN PO'I SOGS SOGS LTA BU SKYE MTSA CHEN PO RGYA CHEN PO BYAS PA'I SKABS MA DANG THEG CHUNG SO BRJAN LTA BU SDOM PA LHAN DU CI NAS BYAS PA PHAN YOD CHEN PO'ANG When we are trying to make a big good karma by making offerings, it's better if we have some kind of vows. A person with some kind of vows is going to make more karma. THEG CHEN SO BRJAN LTA BU SDOM Then he gives an example.

If you don't have lifetime layman's vows, at least those five, right? If you don't have those, which you can get today if you want. Right?

You guys doing bodhisattva vows also? Yeah? Oh, the convenience store is offering lifetime layman's vows and or bodhisattva vows, okay?

And refuge vows, which means you get a Buddhist name. At least, he says, you should do THEG CHEN SO BRJAN. Say THEG CHEN.

THEG CHEN SO BRJAN This is a one-day vow that you can take, okay? One-day vow. And we're going to discuss it more in Thailand.

And we will take it all together, okay? We'll all take it together. To save money for Tim, because you can't eat after noon.

My suggestion is you eat twice as much before noon. Just kidding. So, that's called THEG CHEN SO BRJAN, Mahayana One-Day Vow.

And we have ten translators working in America. We have another group in Asia. But this came in Alison's text.

Alison's translating Vinaya. So, I told her, since we're going to reach that subject in Thailand, maybe you should give a class and explain the Vinaya teachings about the one-day vow. So, she's going to do that, okay?

In her class. I hope so. Okay.

Now, we're going to talk about karma, which is heavy. We've had many kinds of karma, okay? Many kinds of things that make it stronger.

And today we reached the DNGOS PO. DNGOS PO means, what's the stuff you're involved in this karma? What's the basic stuff?

What does stuff mean? I'll give you an example. When you make offerings, sorry, yeah.

When you give something to somebody, okay, you can give them SANG ZHING. Say SANG ZHING. So, you have to put that in your dictionary.

SANG ZHING means physical stuff, like CHU RO or YOD CHAL, which is a very good offering to a Lama. Just kidding. Nah, it's good during fire offerings, because Lama needs strength.

So, SANG ZHING means physical thing. Then CHOS means Dharma, to give Dharma. Which one's stronger?

Yeah, obviously. So, if you give Dharma, does it mean you don't have to fundraise for Diamond Mountain? No, you should do both.

Okay. Wait, is Melissa here? No.

Oh, she's going to squeeze you in about two minutes. Usually she just squeezes Michael, but she's going to squeeze you. Okay, and then he says a very beautiful thing.

SANG ZHING GI CHOS PA LAS GRUB PA'I CHOS PA LHAG PA SOGS If you're going to make an offering, you can put an offering on the altar of a thing. But the highest offering is called GRUB PA'I CHOS PA. Say GRUB PA'I CHOS PA.

GRUB PA'I CHOS PA is the highest kind of offering. Guess what it is? Yeah, offer your practice.

Offer your practice. That's why when we do the preliminaries in meditation, we offer something we did yesterday. So, if you offer Lama things, money, flowers, things like that, it's helpful, it's good, it's a very good thing.

But they'd much rather to get your offering of your practice. If Lama sees you are being nice to other people, or you are volunteering for Diamond Mountain, or you are doing your meditation or your yoga, then that makes them super happy. More than money, more than things.

I have a small house, very small. I don't have room for things. So, also for me, it's more convenient if you offer your practice.

Okay, all right. No, just kidding. But really, it makes every Lama, every Buddha get happy if you offer your meditation practice.

If you do the lion's dance every day for 30 days, I'm going to check on WhatsApp or WeChat, then that makes the Lama really happy. More than money, more than food or things, flowers. So, it's nice to offer a flower when you stand in a line there, but when you offer the flower, in your mind you should say, I also did my meditation for the last five days.

In your mind, when you offer the flower, then offer your practice in your mind, and that makes the Lama really happy. Okay, that's the nicest offering that you can make, and the most powerful offering you can make. Okay, more than money.

Okay, questions for, we have 10 minutes. Anybody has any question about anything? Maybe some question came up during your retreat.

Actually, everyone who has their hand up just donated a thousand dollars. Just kidding, just kidding, just kidding. Hello Geshe-la, thank you for your teaching and providing this area for us to retreat in.

So, my question was, I got a little confused during the retreat because anything that is an existing thing is something we can have a valid perception of. So, if we have a valid perception of a fake teacher, and then we discover that they're a gaccha, how can they take up any space? I mean, once we x them, how can that gaccha have taken up any empty space?

That's my question. Yeah, that's a good question. You see, when the cell phone occupies a space, it doesn't change the space, right?

And when I remove the cell phone, the space stays there. So, it's similar to that. The place where something that didn't exist was, it's a mental space, it's not a physical space.

It took up part of your mind. Especially the way to detect a thing which is coming from its own side is emotions, okay? When you get upset, you're always thinking of a non-existing thing, okay?

You cannot get upset unless you are thinking of a self-existing thing. So, if you have trouble thinking of a self-existing thing, watch yourself next time you get upset, okay? Or next time you're afraid or something like that.

So, from your emotions you can detect that you're thinking of a gaccha. Then when you remove it, yeah, there's no physical space. It's a mental space, yeah.

So, it frees up your mind to its available space. Yeah, but I found it useful to imagine it as a physical space and to move into it, you know. Like when I meditate I have an awareness of the front of my head and the back of my head and I put like a little cave here and I find that space.

So, I think most of us do better with visual reminders. They're not, emptiness is not visual but it helps me to think of that way, yeah. Thank you.

Okay, more question? Thank you Geshe-la. Vivian, I have to ask you a question after the class, okay?

[Speaker 2]
What's the second one? Misunderstanding and ignorance. Uhm, also last time Sugen taught a class in Buddha Buto about this and he mentioned about it.

So, right now my understanding of these two words is more like, ignorance is a kind of a mental obstacle maybe like our obstacle to omissions, like that. And then misunderstanding is more like how we perceive things wrong and that causes our negative emotions. So it's more like a mental affliction obstacle.

So really I want to hear a clear teaching about these two words and what are the difference among these two words. Especially I want you to use the two husbands example to tell me what is the ignorance in this story and what is the misunderstanding in this story.

[Speaker 1]
When you teach the example of angels and devils, can you tell us in detail which part is the angels and which part is the devils? This is a very famous question in Abhidharma. So Stanley is going to translate it eventually.

But in the Abhidharma they ask this question, what's the difference between ignorance and misunderstanding? So usually people translate the first link of the Wheel of Life, the blind man, they translate avidyā as ignorance. And I prefer to use misunderstanding.

So what's the difference between ignorance and misunderstanding? Someone asked this to Vasubandhu in the Abhidharma kosha. And he says there's three possibilities.

Number one, he uses the example of a friend. So ignorance is like saying, this person is not my friend. Like, is this person your friend?

Then you say, no, I don't know them. So that's ignorance. Say, I never met them.

That's a kind of ignorance. Is this person your friend? I hope they will become my friend, but I didn't meet them yet.

That's a kind of ignorance. You don't know about it. Like some kinds of mathematics, I just don't know about them.

That's kind of more ignorance. And then simple misunderstanding means you understand a lot of it, but you don't understand part of it. So you thought you understood it, but maybe you didn't understand it completely.

Is this person your friend? They're not my friend, but I know them. I wouldn't call them a friend, but I know them.

I've seen them at Diamond Mountain. I didn't talk to them. That's the second possibility.

Third possibility, they are my enemy. The opposite of a friend. Then the feeling is different, right?

Number one, I never met this person. Number two, I saw them, but I don't really know them very well. Those are kinds of ignorance, right?

And then third one is misunderstanding means direct opposite of understanding. So link number one is very similar to the devil in the person's mind. It doesn't not know about the object.

It's opposite understanding of the object. What? Coming from their side.

When I came home and my husband started to yell at me, then I get this feeling that he decided, before I opened the door, he was upset, I don't know, he didn't have enough dinner or he didn't sleep well. And then when I opened the door he yells at me and you have a feeling that he decided to hurt me. He decided to hurt me.

Then that's ignorance because it's the opposite of correct. Opposite of correct. It says, I didn't do anything.

I didn't do anything. That's the opposite of correct. Wisdom is you open the door, husband yells at you and you say, oh, that's because I yelled at my kids last week.

The first idea of an educated Buddhist person, if you say you went to Diamond Mountain, how can we tell you went to Diamond Mountain? Because when something bad happens you say, that's my fault. What did I do?

Then that's important because you can fix it. You can say, okay, next time I won't yell at my kids. Or this person doesn't like me so much.

I met many nice people at Diamond Mountain. This one person doesn't seem to like me very much. Then how can I change my behavior towards other people to change my seeds?

You see what I mean? That's why you come here. That's why you pay the airplane company.

That's why you get in trouble with your family. Just to learn that. Just to learn the one thing.

We repeat, repeat, repeat. Kamalashila said, vasubandhu. We look at it from many, many, many, many different ways.

Then finally you remember it once on the airplane. I had a guy, he sat next to me in the business class because Mr. Woo is kind enough to pay for me to have business class so I can keep my body. I had a big coffee on my table and he got up and he had a big butt that met my big coffee in the beginning of a 24-hour flight and spilled all of it on my lap.

I'm like, ugh. Then if I remember that it come from me I will say, okay, no problem. I will clean it.

Okay. By the way, he went to the back of the plane. He got in.

This is a long, long flight to Europe and this is the first five minutes he spilled the coffee on me. Whole coffee. Then this guy came up with a cane and he's like this.

He said, I'm going to sit there next to you. I'm like, what happened to the other guy? He said, he gave his seat to me.

Then I'm like, he gave a 12-hour flight and he gave his seat to this guy who had a bad leg. So he had a big butt but he had a big heart also. So anyway, if you use it immediately then you're fighting ignorance.

That's the only reason to come to Dharma. So ignorance means not just don't know, but misunderstand completely. 100% misunderstand.

Opposite. That's why angel and devil cannot live in the same mind. That's why any real Buddhist meditation should make the mind uncomfortable for the devil.

Which breathing meditation does not and thinking about nothing does not. We want to create an atmosphere inside of our own mind which is uncomfortable for the devil. Misunderstanding.

Misunderstanding doesn't want to stay there. If you're doing a useful meditation, an effective meditation, then misunderstanding should feel uncomfortable. Okay?

All right then. We'll continue the rest later.